Thanks For The Ropes You Used To Hold Us Down
by FiresFromOurHearts
Summary: Part of the Take A Stand, Don't Ever Take A Fall series. They are not your cast offs, your spares - not the Hufflepuffs. Fingers and hands coated in dirt doesn't mean you ignore something, someone. Brave isn't a Hufflepuff term - don't make Cedric your figurehead, your symbol, your hero, your bravery; make him your loyalty, your fairness, your hard work.


_**Thanks For THe Ropes You Used To Hold Us Down \- Title taken from Thank You by MKTO**_

They are not your cast offs, your spares - not the Hufflepuffs. Fingers and hands coated in dirt doesn't mean you ignore something, someone. Brave isn't a Hufflepuff term - don't make Cedric your figurehead, your symbol, your hero, your bravery; make him your loyalty, your fairness, your hard work. He's Hufflepuff's, and he was a Hufflepuff to the core.

So let's hear it for the Hufflepuffs, who strive to work beneath the weight of insults because words hurt. Let's hear how they are strong, because strength can be found in many things. Let's hear how they are dangerous, because kindness isn't a weakness. Let's hear that they are human and so that they are all different.

* * *

 _You come to this place of wonder, of magic._

 _You come here to learn, to grow._

 _You come here as a child first, and it's accepted you'll leave as an adult._

 _Here's the weird bit, though; you're put into a house and you_ can _choose it._

 _Not everyone chooses and not everyone argues, but you can._

 _The possibility is there._

 _So what about the Hufflepuffs of Hogwarts; where do they fit in?_

 _They are kind beings, not noble – that's a Gryffindor trait._

 _They are unafraid of toil; hard working._

 _They are loyal._

 _Except, no one ever sees – you are more than this._

 _Hufflepuff is more than your cast offs, your spares._

If you get into Hufflepuff, it isn't because you're not intelligent, not brave, not ambitious. There are a host of reasons, numerous and as various as the owners of such opinions. Your reason, _your_ reason and not anyone else's, is because you think about being intelligent, about being brave, about being ambitious and you think, yeah, that would be nice, except you _could be better_. It's not ambition with striving towards a goal and forever focussed. It's not intelligence because you aren't tracking a path to reach a goal. It's not bravery because you're not fighting fear to succeed.

It's damn hard work, it's being unafraid of toil. It's building yourself up from the ground. It's holding on by the tips of your fingernails and not letting go. It's a refusal to give in, it's a refusal to give up. You want a tale about Hufflepuffs? You want to see them scorned – well, no. You stand up for what's right here, don't you? Who cares what everyone else says about you and your house – here you have a family, you have a home, you have people who care, and a good environment.

If I'm to be honest with you, Hufflepuff is probably where you're safest. Hard working doesn't mean hard work put in. Unafraid of toil doesn't mean being brave about your work. It's not… It's not like the other houses, not Hufflepuff. Hufflepuff is different because they know the meaning of _work_ and like Ravenclaw, when they commit _they commit_. Hufflepuff is different because being unafraid doesn't mean bravery, it just means you'll do it, and maybe that's like Gryffindor. Hufflepuff is different because when they want something they stick their heels into the ground and _dare_ you to make them move, and maybe that's somewhat like Slytherin.

The point is that Hufflepuff is like every other house – it is made up of a multitude of witches and wizards, and they are all different. The point is that Hufflepuff is unlike every other house because it is a home before anything else.

 _They give your house a badger for an animal._

 _A badger, and then they dare think it equates to sweetness, to kindness._

 _Do they know what a badger is?_

 _Badgers are carnivorous animals, are underestimated._

 _Like us, really._

 _The thing is, they live quietly until attacked, and that's when you run like hell._

 _See, badgers can fight off_ wolves _, can fight off bigger animals._

 _So get off your high horse with your eagles and their renown._

 _Forget about your claws and hearty roars with your lions._

 _Ignore your stealth with your snakes and their poison._

 _Remember this instead: badgers are dangerous._

 _Honestly, creatures that have bright colours – like white – are the most dangerous._

 _No one shouldn't forget that. You don't want to live to regret it._

You make it through one year, you learn and you learn. You can use your wand now, barely, but you can use it. You can think of a few spells quickly enough, and you've got a fair hand at the shield charm. You still aren't important to the greater world, though. That's alright though – you don't want to be the world's hero. Leave that for people like Harry Potter who are superhuman and defy death.

You've got your friends and your role models. You have a small world clad in yellow and black. You have a cosy home and a kitchen nearby. You have laughter and you have smiles _and you get help_. See, that's what some of the other houses forget, it's what teachers forget – not everyone learns the same way. You have people who teach you and they try different ways until you get it. You figure out the way you learn best and you adapt.

You learn of hauntings and petrification and you go, _alright_ , and then you look to your prefects and they organise a buddy-system so that no one remains alone. You wander in groups from the beginning. You move together because family looks after family.

 _Look, Hufflepuff may be about family, and even family argues._

 _That's not the problem, because family here is a badger watching over her young._

 _Family here is protective, is dangerous, is steady, is loyal._

 _The problem with Hufflepuff isn't about being in Hufflepuff – you're proud of your house._

 _The problem with being in Hufflepuff is that Hogwarts is built on stereotypes._

 _Stereotypes are lies, twisted and warped._

 _You get as good as you are going to be and they still laugh because you are a Puff, a duffer._

You know the traits of Hufflepuff, you know their names and the twisted way they become insults. The insults don't flow off your back, don't drip off like water – because words hurt. You can turn to friends and take comfort, but it hurts regardless. You can't strike out because you aren't meant to injure, to harm. You are patience, you are fair play, you are loyalty, you are tolerance.

The thing is, people put the traits in a way so that they don't look dangerous. You put ambition beside cunning and suddenly Slytherins seem dangerous. You underline intelligence and place it by itself and then Ravenclaws are backstabbers. You order bravery above chivalry and Gryffindors are either arrogant or heroes. You put hard work above fair play and every Hufflepuff is nice.

Let's change the order, though. Let's group dedication and patience; let's make that _danger_. Let's remember that tolerance has a limit – let's think about hard work and dedication and that _waiting pays off_. You think Hufflepuffs aren't dangerous? You're in for a hell of a surprise. You see, Hufflepuffs are just more tolerant. That doesn't mean they aren't dangerous.

 _Insult and lie to us; it doesn't change us._

 _These things hurt but you eventually grow past them._

 _You learn to grow a coat of fur, a coat of armour._

 _You make it, sometimes, you put on your make-up, and it puts up a shield._

 _Magic is wonderful, yes, but it can make people more judgemental._

 _Or maybe that's society, but we are all part of society._

Come Triwizard Tournament, and then everyone pays attention to Hufflepuff. A champion, _your champion_ , is a Hufflepuff. We do not forget all your insults, your harsh words. We are fair play and this is fair. Moreover, because we are human and flawed, this is us showing that _we are better._ We are the chosen ones here. It's not that we are quick to forget or forgive; it is that we have the chance to show off.

We don't forget what you've said and we don't forget what you've done. Except, we've grown past it – have you? We give you a champion, we give you our best – and then you chuck Harry Potter in, illegally. The boy-who-lived is the hero of the world, and Gryffindor refuses to allow Hufflepuff a moment of fame, a moment of life.

You've ignored our heroes and you… you end up taking this one from us too. You mention him, give us a few lines, you call him loyal, fair, hard working. And then he's taken from us, made a martyr, made a reason for a cause. You make him your reason to speak about Voldemort.

 _Bravery wasn't Hufflepuff._

 _Don't make Cedric Diggory your figurehead, your symbol, your_ hero _, your bravery._

 _Don't make him into a Gryffindor-Hufflepuff; he was Hufflepuff's alone._

 _His house was the one of badgers, of home, of family._

 _His house was the one that was a home – the only one in Hogwarts._

 _He was a Hufflepuff down to the core, and that shows._

 _So make him your loyalty, your fairness, your hard work._

 _Make him your dedication, your kindness, your tolerance._

 _Make him your hero, but make him a Hufflepuff one._

 _You've already forgotten our others – what's one more?_

Cedric Diggory was ours, and for that we will come together with the other houses. For Cedric and for his death, for our hero being killed in moments that should've been filled with glory but were only filled with fear. For Cedric, for protection, we will come.

Dumbledore's Army gains Hufflepuff members, and they do not come to learn for the sake of learning like the Ravenclaws. They do not come like the Gryffindors because they will need to be brave, because Voldemort has apparently arisen. They were invited, unlike the Slytherins. They come because their house needs protection. They come because Cedric was theirs.

The Ministry of Magic can try to tame the school, tame the houses, but Slytherin will manipulate her and Gryffindor will distract her. Ravenclaw will sink into their books and be forgotten. Hufflepuff will never even be thought about in the first place. So, naturally, hard work and fairness ensure that they undermine Umbridge's teachings anyway.

Hufflepuff has always helped their members – it doesn't take much to become a group effort to learn Defence Against the Dark Arts.

 _The world is deadly, dangerous._

 _Sometimes you have to find your burrow and weather the storm._

 _Sometimes you need to leave your comfort zone and fight._

 _Sometimes you need to laugh until you cry, because bad times are coming._

 _You-Know-Who (Voldemort) is back._

 _This is the time to come together, to tighten bonds, to find your reason to fight or hide._

 _This isn't their time; they are still children._

 _It's a pity that the war doesn't care._

Perhaps in another world Hufflepuff would act like another house, they would be taking the time to smile and knowing the war approaches, but ignoring it for what they have right now. In another world, Cedric Diggory hadn't died and Hufflepuff hadn't been the first to lose.

In this world, Cedric was the first to fall. He was the first casualty of war, and Hufflepuff wouldn't let that lie. They take being unafraid of toil and they take their hard work. They think fairness and remember a Hufflepuff and he was a _hero_. They take everything they are and stick heels into the dirt, and they plant themselves, steady and ready. They think who needs to hide, who can come back, who will fight for which side. They think of themselves as family and _it shows_. It shows.

They spent a year with darkness haunting their footsteps before the war enters Hogwarts. They think safety and survival, but protection first, _always_. They do not put Cedric on a pedestal – he was human, flawed. They are too, but he is theirs. For that reason and for that reason only, they will prepare to fight.

In another world, there would be other reasons, but in this world – this is theirs.

 _This is war._

 _This is screams echoing in hallways and not being able to turn away._

 _It's learning torture, torturing, under the guise of a lesson._

 _It's linking hands with your closest friend and holding on tight because letting go can mean death._

 _It's setting up the buddy system but with an offensive member and a defensive member._

 _It's stone walls seeming colder than ever before._

 _It's secret passageways from the common room to the kitchen._

 _It's stocking up and hiding in your burrow when it's too dangerous._

 _It's about keeping everyone safe._

 _It's about the ghost of Cedric that makes up everyone's spirit._

Look at what they called you – _look at what they said._ Duffer. Puff, but they said it like it's an insult. Fourth-best. Second-best. Spares. Cast-offs. Weak. Useless. You called us these things – and it hurt, but we aren't defined by these terms. Besides, the best part of hard work is taking something and claiming it. We take these insults and they become ours; they do not ruffle our fur because we have learnt. We have grown. We have armour now.

Here's the thing about loyalty – you get to choose it. It is not Dumbledore we are loyal to. It is not Harry Potter. It is not Voldemort. It is not Snape. We are loyal to this – a memory of Cedric, _because he fought, because he was a Hufflepuff_.

So what if we seem weak, seem useless? We are _hard work_. We are _unafraid of toil_. That means we have skills. It means that we have strength. Maybe we aren't intelligence or ambition or bravery – but we don't need to be. We are so, so much more.

Perhaps the world needs to stop defining us by our house. Our house should be defined by us. Yes, there are foundations, there is a basis – but we are more than simple character traits. We are brains and personalities and bodies. We are a family. We found our home; we _made_ it.

We might not be the best but you don't need to be the best, you need to be enough for yourself. We are stubborn, heels turned to rock and a refusal to give up. We are patient, waiting for the right time to strike. We are fair play, because there are people who need justice and equality doesn't exist. We are dedication, because you can put it, all in but you decide if you get something out of it. We are hard work because this world isn't easy. We are kindness, because everyone deserves a chance. We are unafraid of toil because skills only get you so far. We are tolerance, but there is a limit, and everyone has one.

So, listen up all of you, call us whatever. We know what we are. We are strong and we are _alive._ We are fighting and fighting and fighting – fighting to not be forgotten, fighting to have our heroes remembered, fighting to not be a figurehead. We are fighting because we want to, because Cedric died, because there is unfairness in the world.

Kindness does not mean you have to be kind. Kindness can mean understanding, but understanding does not mean you must like someone. You can understand and you can still hate. But, that doesn't matter – because Hufflepuff is not made up of kindness. There are people within Hufflepuff who are kind, but that does not mean all of them are.

 _When the boy-who-lived came back, we were already there._

 _We had been fighting; this was_ war _._

 _It doesn't matter that he had been fighting too._

 _Everyone has been fighting, because you cannot escape war._

 _The point is that we went through something and he didn't._

 _Children of war, children of peace, and growing up to be adults._

 _Where once we had tried our best – and failed – to brush of insults, there was something else._

 _Now we did our best to avoid curses, shields covering everyone's backs._

 _We stuck together because the buddy system works – one attack, one defend._

 _You called us useless? We don't care._

 _Hufflepuff is a badger and they fight to the bitter end._

The thing, is when we gathered in that hall, we did not leave. Oh, we pushed the young ones out, knocked them out and forced them to leave because we already had enough causalities on our hands and we knew that death would be the fate of many here. We were family and family hides the younger siblings to keep them from harm.

We were dangerous – and we had proven it, yet still they forgot, still they underestimated us. Underestimating us only gives us the advantage, but still we wonder. Why? Think of the colours – red and gold for the chivalrous in armour, blue and bronze for knowledge and keys, green and silver for hiding and weapons, yellow and black for bright and danger.

We fought, and we lost. We lost like every other house, because war ends with one side proclaiming themselves the victor but there are corpses on both sides. Cedric was the first to fall, but he was not the last. We fought, fought for individual reasons and fought for Cedric and fought for fairness.

Maybe we weren't the strongest house overall, but you say strength and think of one meaning. We say strength and think that strength covers a lot of different meanings. Say what you want, but we fought and you can't ask for more.

We found our dead and we went to their funerals. What more can you want? We were at war. War does not have much place for the kindness you think we hold. Perhaps you should change your definitions, update them.

 _Kindness is not a weakness._

 _Fairness does not meet niceness._

 _Dedication can mean strength._

 _Hard work means you get skilled regardless of your actual talent._

 _Unafraid of toil means you understand that hard work doesn't mean you become the best._

 _Sometimes you learn to make what you have enough._

 _Find a home and a family at Hogwarts; only one house allows for that._

 _Cedric Diggory died, yes, but not for a cause. He died a hero, a Hufflepuff._

 _Make him your loyalty, your fairness, your hard work._

 _Make him your dedication, your kindness, your tolerance._

 _See, Hufflepuff is not your cast offs, your spares._

 _Hands and fingers coated in dirt doesn't mean you ignore something._

 _It means they did something; it means they worked._

 ** _First things first, we are loyal. To ourselves and to each other._**

 ** _Kindness does not mean weakness; strength can be found clad in yellow and black._**

 ** _Words hurt, but they do not make you._**

 ** _Dare the world and dig your heels in – no matter what, you are a Hufflepuff._**


End file.
